This long range plan for the Montana State Library begins with an introduction that covers history, past planning activities, the planning process, ongoing planning, evaluation, demographic characteristics that influence the library services population, employment and education, income, taxes, needs of Montana libraries, needs of all libraries, public library needs, school library needs, special/institutional/college/academic library needs, LSCA (Library Service and Construction Act) transition to LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act), state advisory council, grants, the 1998 LSTA program, future years, expenditure of funds for administration, procedures for LSTA, and the vision of libraries in Montana. The second section covers the Montana State Library's approach to library development, including principles of library development and relationships with library and other organizations. Statewide library resources are addressed in the third section, including goals, objective, and activities related to developing and sharing resources, continuing education, public awareness and support, leadership for library development, and information services. Goals, objectives, and activities of the Montana Talking Book Library are presented in the fourth section. The fifth section summarizes goals, objectives, and activities for the Natural Resource Information System. (MES)